When a conventional stapler is operated without documents being inserted in the device, a staple becomes bent and jammed in the ejecting mouth of the stapler. In such a case, although it is possible to remove the jammed staple with the end of a pencil or wire, removal of jammed staples is difficult as the staple ejecting mouth is formed only of a size to allow passage of one staple at a time.
As a result, various mechanisms for the removal of staples jammed in the staple ejecting mouth have been proposed. For example, as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, a stapler is proposed which comprises a cover covering the staple ejecting mouth of the frame which forms the stapler. The cover displaces vertically on the rear surface of the frame. Staples which have become jammed are removed by vertically displacing this cover. In the stapler shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, the stapling operation is performed by depressing the cover downwardly. When a staple becomes jammed when the operation is performed without documents being inserted, the cover is displaced upwardly, the staple ejecting mouth is widened and the jammed staple is removed.
However in the stapler as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, since the cover is provided along the outer side of the frame, it is necessary to mount a pin and manufacture the shape of the frame and the cover so that the cover can slide vertically on the frame. Furthermore it is necessary to provide a plate spring or the like to create friction between the cover and the frame so that the cover is not easily displaced vertically in the stapling operation. As a result, the number of components and processing steps are increased and manufacturing costs rise.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a stapler which provides a cheap and simple mechanism of removing jammed staples.